KRG decides to pay delayed salaries of civil servants

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday decided to pay the February salaries of its civil servants weeks after the Kurdish government refused to receive its share from the federal budget on the ground that it was not sufficient. 

The KRG’s Council of Minister on Wednesday held its weekly meeting, focusing on the Region’s financial issues. 

“We have decided to distribute the February salaries [of civil servants] and I have assigned the ministry of finance to immediately the salaries of February and prepare for the provision of the salaries of March and following months,” Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a video message following the meeting. 

The KRG has failed to pay the salaries of its civil servants on time and in full for a decade due to a financial crisis which deteriorated when a ruling by a Paris-based arbitration court suspended its export of oil to the international markets a year ago. The Kurdish government now relies on local income and its controversial share from the federal budget. The KRG paid nine salaries of public employees last year and has paid only one salary this year.

Earlier this month, Iraq sent around 600 billion dinars for the February salaries of KRG's civil servants, excluding security forces. Erbil refused to receive the money unless paid fully. The KRG said the cash only covered around 60 percent of money needed for salaries. 

“We put the federal government in Baghdad under a constitutional and moral responsibility to respect the promises it has made to provide the salaries. We have carried out all duties that were on the shoulders of the Kurdistan Region,” Barzani added in the video message. 

The KRG also announced a 20 percent discount on accumulated electricity bills, traffic fines, water fines and study fees.  
 
Barzani said the discounts were made “to ease the heavy financial burden on the shoulders of the people of Kurdistan.” 

The cash-strapped KRG has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget of which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants.

Over five months last year, Erbil handed over 11.8 million barrels of oil to Baghdad, the KRG Finance Minister Awat Shekh Janab said on Saturday.